The Legend of Meru Bombers
In the early days of the Mau Mau war, overwhelmed by the gallant freedom fighters based in the Mt Kenya Forest, the British launched ?Operation Mushroom?.
The British Royal Air Force using Lincoln fighter jets dropped up to six million bombs in Mau Mau hideouts in Mt Kenya forest and surrounding areas. Many of the bombs exploded to great destruction, carnage and loss to the Mau Mau.
Some of these bombs however never exploded and are often found in farmland and in the Mt Kenya Forest to this day.
After sustaining heavy losses, the Meru unit of the Mau Mau came up with a brilliant idea; to use the unexploded bombs they found to counter British operations. The Meru Bombers were born.
Field Marshall Baimungi Marete and his rank created a secretive Elite Unit of 11 elite soldiers to scour the mountain for unspent bombs and repurpose them for use against the British and their collaborators.
The Meru Bombers found, experimented and found ways to ambush unknowing targets and trigger these bombs against British forces and their collaborators.
Between 1953 and 1956, the Meru Bombers were able to ambush and stage attacks on roads British forces and their sympathizers used starting from Embu through Meru & Nyeri to Muranga.
Successful and dreaded in their sting attacks, the British set out on a brutal pursuit of the Bombers. They eluded them often going silent for months only to spring attacks later in places the British never anticipated.
The Bombers became a secretive legendary unit that was never captured and many say are part of the force that survived the war along with the other forces under Field Marshalls Baimungi and Mwariama.
Between 1982 & 1984, attempts were being made to have a united Meru Football Club. Field Marshall Mwariama, the last surviving war Field Marshall, a football lover, got wind of this idea.
Inspired by Gor Mahia FC, named after a legendary Luo Magician and Warrior, the Field Marshall suggested the name Meru Bombers for the football club to immortalize the secretive elite unit whose existence and success was denied, never talked about but dreaded by the British. ?
Meru Bombers Football Club was finally born with Kinoru Stadium as their home. As fate would have it, years after eluding the British and as the last holdout of the Mau Mau, Field Marshal Baimungi and the last of the elite members of the Bombers were captured, detained and finally executed at Kinoru Stadium.
Their name and spirit lives to this day, in the club named after them and Kinoru Stadium, the grounds where they paid the ultimate price for our freedom!
The legend and fighting spirit of our founding fathers, Lives On!
https://merubombers.com/ourstory
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